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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.

Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.

Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!

Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

 

 

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

Fraud email example:

From: "Mrs. melissa Pointer" <mrsmelissapointer1@msn.com>
Reply-To: mrspointerfunds@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 27 Dec 2005 07:16:54 +0000
Subject: Dear Beloved in Christ, Merry Xmas Beloved .

Dear Beloved in Christ,
It is by the grace of God that I received Christ,having known thetruth,I had
no choice than to do what is lawful and right in thesight of God for eternal
life and in the sight of man for witnessof God's mercy and glory upon my
life.

I am Mrs.Melissa Pointer the wife of Mr.Harry Pointer,my husband worked with
the Chevron/Texaco in Kenya for twenty yearsbefore he died in the year
2001.We were married for twenty-sevenyears without a child. My Husband died
after a brief illness thatlasted for only four days. Before his death we
were both born againChristians.Since his death I decided not to re-marry or
get a childoutside mymatrimonial home which the Bible is against. When my
late husband was alive he deposited the sum of US $3.5M. (Three Million Five
Hundred Thousand U.S. Dollars) with a Bank in Europe.

Presently, this money is still with the Bank and the management just wrote
me as the beneficiary to come forward to sign for the release of this money
or rather issue a letter of authorization to somebody to receive it on my
behalf if I can not come over.

Presently, I'm in a hospital in Kenya where I have been undergoingtreatment
for esophageal cancer. I have since lost my ability to talk and my doctors
have told me that I have only a few weeks to live. It is my last wish to see
this money distributed to charity organizations any where in the
World.Because relatives and friends have plundered so much of my wealth
since my illness, I cannot live with the agony of entrusting this huge
responsibility to any of them.Please,I beg you in the name of God to help me
Stand and collect the Fundsfromthe Bank.

I want a person that is God fearing that will use this money to fund
churches, orphanages and widows propagating the word of God and to ensure
that the house of God is maintained. The Bible made us to understand that
blessed is the hand that giveth.I took this decision because I don't have
any child that will inherit this money and my husband relatives are not
Christians and I don't want my husband's hard earned money to be misused by
unbelievers. I don't want a situation where this money will be used in an
ungodly manner.Hence the reason for taking this bold decision.

I am not afraid of death hence I know where I am going. I know that I am
going to be in the bosom of the Lord. Exodus 14 VS 14 says that the lord
will fight my caseand I shall hold my peace. I don't need any telephone
communication in this regard because of my soundless voice and presenceof my
husband's relatives around me always.

I don't want them to know about this development. With God all things are
possible. As soon as I receive your reply I shall give you the contact of my
attorney who is in Europe, as he will be the one to assist you in laying
claims for this funds.

BELOVED RESPOND TO MY PRIVATE BOX:mrspointerfunds@yahoo.com

Yours in Christ,
Mrs.Melissa Pointer.



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